The Expedition has Ended

(As you read this, you will be entering history at the point where we are studying. Welcome along and allow your imagination to drift back in history! The following is a short telling of a play the girls, along with a family friend, put on for us. Via the video camera, I tried to capture their exact words.)




Last evening we stood along the river banks cheering as Lewis, Clark, and Sacajawea came to the end of their expedition. We watched their expertise as they navigated the rapids and came around that final bend in the river. Several times their canoe almost tipped over, but they were quick to right it up again. Along with rowing, Clark (played by GVG) was diligent in baling out any unwanted water that collected inside their canoe. At the end of their journey, when the canoe was removed from the water and the team members stepped once again on dry land, Lewis (played by a family friend) said, "If Sacajawea had never been on the expedition with me and Clark, we probably would have never made it." They thanked Sacajawea for the many times she came to their rescue, even when it was putting herself and her infant son in danger. Sacajawea (played by MEG) then stated, "It was an honor to help Lewis and Clark be the first people to explore the Louisiana Purchase and western America."
Tuesday of this past week, we went on a field trip around our city and learned about the four nations that occupied this area through the 1700s and into the 1800s. We traveled around to the original sites of the five forts of those four nations. It was neat to get an understanding on how the local rivers played a strategic part in history, not only as a form of transportation and a way to spread their goods, but in the broader sense, by connecting the Great Lakes regions with the Mississippi River Valley.

Standing at the site of the first American fort in this area.

Site of the second and third American forts.

~Wee